FAU interim coach Brian Wright urges Owls to be resilient

Wright takes over for Carl Pelini, who resigned Wednesday after he was accused of using illegal drugs

October 31, 2013|By Dieter Kurtenbach, Sun Sentinel

BOCA RATON — So who is the man who will fill follow Carl Pelini as FAU's head coach? He introduced himself Thursday morning.

"I'm Brian Wright," FAU's interim head coach said at his first-ever press conference. "I'm a totally different person. I'm a totally different coach."

Wright, who was merely FAU's offensive coordinator Wednesday morning, has been put in charge a program that saw its head coach and a top assistant resign suddenly Wednesday after FAU athletic director Pat Chun alleged both used "illegal drugs," a clear violation of the coaches' contracts.

Saturday's homecoming game against Tulane was set to be one of FAU's more important contests in program history. The Owls, with four games remaining on the schedule, can still become bowl eligible for the first time since 2008, but this weekend's game seemed an afterthought around the FAU football facility less than 24 hours after Pelini and defensive coordinator Pete Rekstis were escorted from the building by campus police.

The Owls practiced Thursday morning, just like they would any other Thursday before a game, but this session was quieter, and the coaches and players were decidedly reserved. The shock of the situation was still present and questions lingered.

Wright couldn't answer many of those questions — he said Thursday Pelini's resignation blindsided him — but he does have to find a way to help mend an emotionally fractured team.

"There's a lot of young people hurt. A lot of young people upset. There's a lot of blank stares and a lot of tears. A lot of guys looking to the ground," Wright said. "I think a lot of players and a lot of us don't quite [know] what to think yet, it happened so fast.

"Our focus is on the coaching staff and their families, the players, and on preparing to win Saturday," Wright continued. "The most important thing is that we're here for them as young people. We need to care about them. We need to make sure we help them get through this situation."

Wright has never been a head coach before, and he's inherited a situation that's unenviable, but when the Ohio native was asked to become the interim coach by Chun, he said accepted without hesitation.

"I've prepared for a long time, but I obviously never had any imagination of this happening," Wright said. "Whenever I was asked, as soon as somebody asked me, and it was the right situation and the right time to do it, I already knew the answer."

Wright was formerly the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Youngstown State before moving to Montana State to hold the same role there from 2009-2011. Pelini hired him to come to FAU in December 2011.

Wright's first official statement as head coach expressed consolation for Pelini and Rekstis.

"I want to say that our thoughts and our prayers go out to coach Pelini and his family, and coach Rekstis and his family," Wright said. When asked to defend his comment, he said: "Certainly, when you work that long with somebody, side by side, you have concern with them and their families."

Wright admitted that he wasn't sure if there was a right way to move forward from Wednesday's events other than to get the players back in their normal game-preparation routine.

"I told the players any energy we spend towards being upset and angry towards them is going to take away from our preparation and us being there for each other," Wright said. "We're not going to waste time being angry."

While Wright wanted to keep the routine the same, he did deviate a bit before practice. Wright called a team meeting before taking the field, and he had players and coaches give an example of something they were thankful for having in their lives. Then, Wright gave his team a "word of the day."

"Our word today was 'resilient'. We're going to be resilient. I'm going to lead them to be resilient," Wright said. "We're going to grow as men, we're going to endure as men, and we will all be better people for going through this."